It shouldn't really come as a surprise that Russ Feingold would vote for his fellow anti-war midwestern reformist Senator but since he didn't offer a formal endorsement the fact that he's gone public with this after the fact seems at least somewhat significant. Among other things, I think you see an increasing number of Democratic elites who don't have super-strong feelings on the merits between Clinton and Obama now hoping to push Clinton out of the race ASAP before the HRC dead-enders throw too much slime in the direction of the guy who's likely to win anyway.
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Feingold for Obama
22 Feb 2008 05:08 pm
Comments (32)
"before the HRC dead-enders throw too much slime"?
You Obama fans are such delicate flowers!
before the HRC dead-enders
HRC dead-ender bait, indeed.
Matt, you are not changing your prediction, right?
Or Maybe Obama wanted to show everyone that he could win it on his own. Just a thought!
Or Maybe Obama wanted to show everyone that he could win it on his own. Just a thought!
It's wild speculation, but that may be the case with Edwards as well.
As Andrew points out, the number of small donations is having a profound strategic impact for Obama:
"More impressive than the amount of money Obama has raised is the sheer number of people who have donated to his campaign."
What a way to have an impact, and counter the fat cats. If you haven't yet, get off your ass and make a donation no matter what size. It takes under a minute. If not now, then when? Has there ever been a more important election in your lifetime? And get your friends and family to do so too. Yes we can, damn it.
Eh: That's absurd, Obama (rightly) trumpets endorsements from key Democrats just as any candidate would. If he wanted to do it on his own my e-mail inbox would be considerably emptier.
SoCalJustice: Agreed. Matt needs to think very hard before he prioritizes his reputation for predictive accuracy over his desire to see Obama win. It's basically his duty at this point to predict not only a Clinton win, but a McCain win in the event that Obama gets the nomination.
exactly minderbender,
I read that Petey is now ready to vote for anybody but Obama in the general. Considering his track record and predictive powers I was exhilarated by the news.
MY: "He vowed not to endorse until after the WI primary, but everyone knew he'd go to Obama."
Wow, what a Profile in Courage that Russ.
Didn't Feingold vote for one of the articles of impeachment?
The real story here is his bizarre hatred of Edwards. Choosing Obama after his own state votes is pretty meaningless, and gutless frankly, if Matt's assumption is correct.
mindbender,
I'd say the problem for Edwarsd is endorsing now just looks like he's jumping on the winner's bandwagon, endorsing before or just after SuperTuesday would have been meaningfull, now he is better off staying silent and then maybe after the NC primary doing like Feingold.
Dead-enders? Slime? Please don't become that which you criticize. The end of the last debate made it clear if she gave up she would do so with class.
slime? so far clinton's been far nicer than she should have been. she's not even brought up the larry sinclair scandal, even in the face of obama's shameless attempts to racialize the election and use sexist attacks to drive working class men away from her.
obama cultists should be a bit less brazen and careless with accusations of sliming and dead-enders.
Winston: "Dead-enders? Slime? Please don't become that which you criticize."
I've been trying to give MY some slack lately, given his excitement over Obama (by lately I mean a week), but yeah, that is pretty precious given the weak, but serious and personal, attacks on the Clinton's that have found a home here.
Check Somerby for clear and true responses to attacks on the Vile Clinton's.
Hint: Frank Rich is a fraud.
even in the face of obama's shameless attempts to racialize the election
I must have missed the part where all those Clinton supporters trumpeting their attempts to brand Obama as a "black candidate" like Jesse Jackson were revealed to actually be working for Obama.
What could a black politician running against a white politician in a national campaign possibly hope to gain by "racializing" the election?
Jeannette? Really, no snark intended, but what are you talking about? How has he racialized, and what sexist attacks? I'm not denying it, but I'm curious how you came to that conclusion, or who you got it from.
Andruw, what are you talking about? Feingold voted against dismissing the impeachment charges before witnesses were heard from. He voted against both articles of impeachment. It's just another example of Russ being the fair guy he is. And what's gutless about representing the will of the people he serves? If by gutless you mean honorable, then yes, he's gutless.
God, I hope it's not "periodically." Because I just might puke.
I know HRC's supporters never dreamed in a bazillion years that she might NOT get the nomination and the presidency, but now that it seems to be slipping away, shouldn't a little more, uh - oh, I'll say it - maturity be in order.
The only real criticism I've heard from the Obama "cult" about HRC is that a whole lot of people don't like her, she's a very polarizing figure, she would enter the general election with half the American public eager to vote against her, etc. That is a fair criticism - it's true. And a lot of the reasons behind that aren't her fault at all. But still. It's the truth. I wish it wasn't that way, but it is. I am not a big fan of hers, but I like her and I would vote for her against McCain in a heartbeat. The vitriol being hurled against Obama and Obama supporters by the Clinton supporters - anyone checked Larry Johnson or Taylor Marsh lately? It's sickening - is breathtaking. And all this after the Clinton campaign itself seems to have ramped down the attacks on Obama somewhat.
I guess watching HRC give what amounted to a pre-concession concession speech at the end of last night's debate must have been disheartening if you've got a lot invested in her. But like she said - and like John Edwards said before her - we'll be OK.
nolaboyd,
Jeannette, who evidently was just released from the funny farm, thinks Obama has been caught having an affair with this man.
Meanwhile, Taylor Marsh has actually gone more crazy.
And the people that run correntewire are convinced that Russ Feingold or any one who supports the "magic negro" (hi Ehrenstein) is an idiot under the spell of a 21st century Svengali.
nolaboyd, I stand corrected, sorta:
"WASHINGTON (AllPolitics, Jan. 28) -- Sen. Russell Feingold broke ranks with fellow Democrats Wednesday when he voted with Republicans in the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton.
Feingold voted against a motion to dismiss the trial and voted in favor of a motion to allow the deposition of three witnesses.
The 45-year-old Wisconsin Democrat was the only senator to break party solidarity, putting him in the company of the Senate's 55 Republicans while the other 44 Democrats voted the other way."
Me again: I knew I remembered something calculating and bogus about Russ Feingold.
obama cultists should be a bit less brazen and careless with accusations of sliming and dead-enders
Really? Why don't you just go to Taylor Marsh and read her recent entries. And then try to wrap your head around the fact that she calls herself a Democrat. A Democrat. She's like a non-stop Republican smear factory and 527 idea engine all by herself. It's fucking disgusting.
blindjoedeath:
Ah, yes, the "casual poetry" of the Obama campaign. Such distortion, as anyone who actually reads the post can see. But Democrats are used to this, by now. We consider the source. Good luck!
Let's give Hillary the benefit of the doubt for now and assume she'll go quietly after she loses Texas and Ohio. She's made noises about staying in all the way to the convention, but politicians have to say such things to fire up their supporters. The campaign has been a relatively tame one so far, and I see no reason it won't stay that way.
-"she's not even brought up the larry sinclair scandal"
That would require adorning ones dome with TEH TINFOIL HAT.
"obama cultists should be a bit less brazen and careless....."
After you visit Taylor Marsh (if you haven't migrated from there) or No Quarter or Talk Left. Irrational behavior is abound.
[Stoller]Feingold said some nice things about Reagan's record in a Senate floor eulogy in 2004. Clearly, he's attracted to Reagan-redux Obama.[/Stoller]
Why is it when I read the word "dead-ender" the name Larry Johnson immediately came to mind?
Has there ever been a more important election in your lifetime?
Yes. And I consider rhetoric like that to be pretty tunnel-visioned, bordering on ignorant. Many elections are fought with a similar sense of urgency and the sense that our government is out of control or oblivious. Or that someone was setting a historic precedent.
1964, 1968, 1972, 1984, 2004 - at least - could be described in similar terms.
I think it works in Obama's favor for the campaign to stretch out. He'll be an easy target for the wackos once HRC is out of the way. But Hillary is their ultimate nightmare so they won't risk helping her by fully training their guns on Obama.
The thin-skinned cultists overreact to every criticism of their messiah but HRC is too good a Democrat to go overboard on the attacks.
Wait till the wingnuts turn Michelle Obama into Angela Davis. I see they're after her Princeton thesis now.
Still Undecided,
That will make it all the more sweeter when Obama wins.
It's good that Michelle has made a well publicized misstep in the primary. She's incredibly bright and will learn from her mistakes.
Of course, you're probably hoping for Obama to lose in November to vindicate all your "cultist" fantasies.
And that's fine, it's a free country. Hopefully you'll come around. If not, I apologize in advance for how miserable the 8 years of an Obama presidency will be for you.
I may vote for Obama but can't see myself "coming around" and drinking the cult kool-aid. Apologies in advance for how miserable that makes you.
"his bizarre hatred of Edwards"
It's hard for many to take Edwards seriously looking at his votes - particularly his vote for the war. And his apology seemed just a transparent attempt to target a voting bloc - the netroots crowd - for his Presidential run. I don't think it's all that strange that Feingold dislikes him.
"before the HRC dead-enders throw too much slime"
To echo what some others have already said, any Clinton supporter who thinks this phrase is harsh should go to Taylor Marsh's website and read the comment thread for any story on Michelle Obama. You'll see about 50% of the comments sound like they were written by members of the Klu Klux Klan.
apologies in advance for how miserable that makes you.
No need to apologize, it doesn't make me miserable one bit.
Comments closed March 07, 2008.
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Heads in the Sand
Feingold would have endorsed Obama much earlier, but he didn't believe in the idea of influencing voters in his state. He vowed not to endorse until after the WI primary, but everyone knew he'd go to Obama.
Posted by TH | February 22, 2008 5:39 PM